He told the BBC that Facebook wasn’t a “fluffy charity” and squeezes profit from users’ data.

External regulation is required to curtail its power, he said.

The former head of Britain’s domestic intelligence agency GCHQ has said Facebook poses a threat to democracy unless it is “controlled and regulated.”

In an interview with the BBC’s “Today” programme, Robert Hannigan said Facebook’s primary goal was to squeeze every drop of profit from its users’ data.

He said: “This isn’t a kind of fluffy charity providing free services. It’s is a very hard-headed international business and these big tech companies are essentially the world’s biggest global advertisers, that’s where they make their billions.